1996 News Story03/16/1996King Fahd honors former U.S. President George Bush

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz yesterday received former U.S. President George Bush at the Al-Salama Palace in Riyadh, and conferred on him the King Abdul Aziz Medal.

President Bush, accompanied by former U.S. Defense Secretary Richard Cheney, today met with Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation, and Inspector-General, to discuss issues of common interest.

President Bush also visited the Consultative Council (Majlis Al-Shura), where he met with the Chairman, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Jubair, who praised the strength of bilateral relations between the Kingdom and the United States and gave a briefing on the shura system and the Islamic principles on which it is based, explaining that the council offers advice to the government and contributes in the development of regulations and bylaws. For his part, President Bush expressed his pleasure to be visiting the shura council and emphasized the depth of the bilateral ties between the two countries, citing the fruitful and effective cooperation during the liberation of Kuwait in the Gulf War as evidence of the strength of these relations. He commended the way Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz handled the implications of the Iraqi invasion, and said that the Iraqi regime still poses a threat to the peace and stability of the region.